by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Pete Carroll has heard the talk: 2013 is a "Go-For-It'' season for the Seattle Seahawks.

Carroll doesn't buy it. Not even after trading for former Minnesota Vikings slot receiver/return man Percy Harvin and signing free-agent pass rushers Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, who have infused the Seahawks with a combined 18 sacks from last season.

Carroll made it clear he doesn't want his still-ascending program to be misconstrued for mortgaging the future the way some failed free-agent-centric, Super Bowl-or-bust flameouts have.

"I've heard that, and it has nothing to do with it. If you've watched the way John (Schneider) and I have operated, we've gone for it every single chance we get at every single turn,'' Carroll said during Wednesday's NFC coaches breakfast. "That's what we've set out to do.

"Because of good management on John's end, we had some cap room to do some things. We have a very young football team. The last thing I would want to say is that we're trying to take our big shot right now. That's not it. We wanted to do it last year.

"We're trying to do it this year. We fortunately addressed a couple of issues we wanted to.''

Start with Harvin, who is a threat to go the distance any time he touches the football as a receiver or returner.

"We got an explosive receiver to add to the mix by getting Percy in the program along with Sidney Rice, Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin,'' Carroll said. "We've been working on our pass rush for some time to try and get a mixture of a couple of guys that can accent that.

At their core, the Seahawks are a young team still on the rise with 35 of their players experiencing the playoffs for the first time.

Carroll's 12-6 team lost 30-28 in the divisional round to the Atlanta Falcons. He's always prided himself on building his program on competition from within.

So, no, contrary to conventional wisdom, he's not building his team expressly with the reigning NFC champion and division rival San Francisco 49ers in mind.

"No, no, that's what you think,'' Carroll said. "We do not have to do that. We just have to keep getting better.

"The last thing we're going to do is evaluate how good we are based on everybody else. To me, that's one of the worst mistakes you can make. We're working really hard at what we can control.

"Who won the league last year? I couldn't care less about. It doesn't have anything to do with us. That's just part of our mentality, it's getting our guys to play at the very best they can play. And get our roster as competitive as we can get it.''

Then, the former University of Southern California coach said, "I've never pointed at the national championship or the best team that was out there or the best team in the league. That was the last thing we wanted to focus on. We focused on what we're all about and what we're doing. And then that will take us as far as it can take us.

"It's all about the team.''

Of course, it sure helps when that team is led by dynamic, dual-threat quarterback Russell Wilson, the 2012 third-round pick who figures to continue getting better along with a team that might have had the best offseason of anyone so far.